Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Hebrews 16.
Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Hebrews 16.
Bobby: Welcome to the Midweek Checkup. My name is Bobby Gilles and I’m joined by Lindsey Blair This past Sunday, we celebrated the final Sunday of Advent and Pastor Jonah Sage continued our Advent series called “A Praying Christmas.”
Lindsey: Pastor Jonah preached from the first part of Hebrews Four verse sixteen. He taught that we pray because we are welcomed in the throne room of God. Now, for anyone who missed the sermon or needs help remembering, let’s hit the weekly recap:
Bobby: Jonah began by saying that we often don’t pray because we feel like we don’t belong. But if you don’t pray, you can’t know God, and if you don’t know God, all of your religious activity will end up feeling more and more dull and pointless. This is why we have the book of Hebrews.
Tired congregation. Worn out. Doing the right things, really trying hard, but not sure it’s really worth it after all.
Lindsey: Perhaps they feel like they don’t belong or are far away from God, and so the Preacher has spent four chapters now trying to help them see and remember how beautiful Jesus is. No one is an outsider anymore because Christ has brought us near. Why pray? Pray because you are welcomed in the throne room of God! And we come BOLDLY. This is such a wonderful word. Listen to the definition of this Greek word: a use of speech that conceals nothing and passes over nothing.
Bobby: No churchy language. We come using words that conceal nothing, pass over nothing. Where do we bring those words? To the throne of our gracious God, as his dearly loved children.
Lindsey: The throne room of God is not the place of wish granting…it is the place of transformation. Come to the throne room of God not only to get what you want but to become who God wants you to be. In the presence of God, you are changed. Your desires change, your perspective changes, your wounds heal, and your hopes abound.
Bobby: Pastor Jonah shared three principles for praying. First, pray like you belong there, in the throne room. Second, pray something real, not just something ideal. Third, pray with open hands expecting you’ll change. Christ will grow in familiarity to you. And the more you pray this way, the more you’ll want to pray this way. Because when you pray like this you experience the reality that you belong in the throne room of God.
Lindsey: This coming weekend we have two services on Christmas Eve: four p.m. and eleven p.m. Then we’ll gather for a different service on Christmas Day, at eleven a.m. Remember … no nine a.m. service this Sunday, and no Bible Fellowship. Join us at eleven a.m., and bring a friend.